ENVY
by from-sabrina
Summary: e is for Elliot, n is for No, v is for Volatile, y is for whY. In which Austin is envious of Elliot, Ally's old friend from camp. For Mae. "I've made it a rule only to fall in love with best friends that steal my songs." Oneshot.


**Pairing: Austin/Ally**  
**Prompt: Mae, one of my friends on Twitter (hetheillestr5 on Twitter and _can't tell fate_ here on FanFiction) wanted me to do a oneshot on Austin being jealous of Elliot. So, this one is for Mae.**  
**Notes: Elliot, in case any of you didn't know, is Ally's old friend from camp (who she might like/might like her- can't give away too much) and will appear in the eighth episode of Austin & Ally Season 2. He'll be played by Cody Christian, who also starred with Laura Marano in an episode of Back to You in which he played the boy who had a crush on Laura's character, but didn't know how to express it except to bully her. They were both 10-ish in that episode and it was so kyut.**  
**Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer.**

**Copyright 2012 from-sabrina**

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_e is for Elliot_

What's so great about sparkly gray-blue eyes and flippy brown hair, anyways? And his eyes change colors, too, depending on where he is or what he's wearing or how he's feeling and all sorts of shit. I don't care what color his eyes are, but can't they stay the _same_ color so I can convince Ally there's nothing pretty about gray-blue eyes? Like, dude, your eyes are schizo.

His name is Elliot. Elliot What's-His-Face, because I'd rather not talk to him anymore than I have to and ask for his last name. Ally says they met at camp when they were 14 and became best friends. Psh, what do 14-year-olds know about being best friends? Ally and I are best friends, Dez and I are best friends, Trish and Ally are best friends, Dez and Trish are best-friends-slash-worst-enemies, Dez and Ally are best friends, Trish and I are best friends, but Elliot and Ally are _not_ best friends.

As far as I see it, Elliot is just another guy who likes Ally. And as far as I see it, he's _not the right one for her_.

I'd actually like to talk to his parents; why on earth did they decide to come back to Miami for the summer? Go to France, go to Hawaii, go to Alaska, just don't come to Miami with your stupid son.

I can't even say that he's stupid, because for the past few days, he and Ally have been holed up in the practice room (in the place where _I_ should be) "doing calculus". Doing calculus, my ass. He's totally flirting with her, I can _hear_ her laughing.

It wouldn't be that bad if he was pimple-faced, chubby, and nerdy, because then he wouldn't be considered competition. I'm sure that if he was, he'd go to great places in the future, though, and maybe find a great girl, I don't know and I don't care because he's _not_. No, Ally's "old friend" just _had_ to be good-looking.

Damn genetics; what's wrong with brown eyes and blonde hair?

_n is for No_

Ally's my best friend. Obviously, our opinions on each other mean a lot to the other. If I have a date, I always make sure that she likes them first. If she has a date... well, that scenario hadn't come around yet, and like an overbearing father, I hoped it never did.

I always speak too soon, don't I?

Now, here's the thing about Ally and I: she can get me to do almost anything, with her puppy-dog eyes and that adorable pout and _oh my god_, the eyes. One look, and I've already agreed to whatever she wants.

See, this is how it normally goes:

"Austin, everyone in my cloud-watching club is either sick or can't make it, so I was thinking..." She starts.

"No," I say, because I already know what she's going to ask me.

"Please?"

"No," I repeat, looking away from her. One look at her expression and my defenses will crumble; damn her.

"Austin..." she pleads, and her tone makes me turn reluctantly to her. She's got the woebegone expression on, and she's working the puppy-dog eyes, too, because she knows just as well as I do that she's got me wrapped around her little finger.

"Ally," I return, but her eyes are like quicksand, drawing me in. We have a staring contest for a little bit, but as usual, she's won me over. "Fine," I groan, sliding a hand over my face. "Just promise me you'll never use that expression to get me to do something ever again," I add on. There's silence, then I take my hand off my face and open my eyes. "Hey! That's not fair!" I groan, because she's already left before I could make her agree.

Anyways, that's the usual procedure: She asks for something, if I don't want to comply I say no, she says please, I say no, I look at her, I say yes. It's a vicious cycle.

So one day, just two weeks since Elliot's arrival in Miami (I'm counting down the days until he leaves- we're at the halfway point already, thank god), Ally comes up to me with that same hopeful look that I've seen so many times- the same one that I've _fallen_ for so many times.

"So..." she begins nervously, fidgeting with her skirt.

"Yes?" I ask suspiciously.

"Remember how you always ask me for my approval on your dates?" she asks. I nod apprehensively. "Well... Now it's my turn to ask you for _your_ approval."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, something in my chest plummets to my stomach. I refuse to say that it's my heart, because that would be girly. I. Refuse. "Wh-Who is it?" I finally stammer out.

Shyly, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and says, "Elliot." My eyes widen and before I know what I'm doing, my fist is on a collision course with the nearest wall. The alarmed look on Ally's face comes fast enough to stop me before my fist turns into a bloody, mangled mess. Any guy but Elliot. Any guy _but_ Elliot, and I would have been fine. Sure, I might be irritated, but with Elliot? I'm furious.

"No," I say harshly.

"What?" She's taken aback.

"No." I repeat flatly. I know I'm being selfish; I should only want her to be happy, right? But no, I'm 17 and I'll damn well be selfish. "No, you don't have my approval to go on a date with him. Ally, he's not the right guy for you," I tell her fiercely.

"_What?_ You can't tell me who or when to date, Austin! That's not fair to me! Who are you to say that he's not the right guy, huh?" she snaps, now thoroughly pissed off.

"I've never gone out with a single girl that you haven't approved of," I retort. "Why can't I get the same consideration?"

"Because I've never _disapproved_ of any of the girls you've dated!" she shrieks indignantly. "You've always had a thing against Elliot; I know it. Why can't you just give him a chance?" By now, everything's escalated too fast and she's yelling.

"_Because I never got one!_" I roar back, suddenly just letting go of everything.

"What?" She stumbles back a bit, and I instantly regret saying that out loud. All I can hope for now is that she doesn't understand the meaning behind my words. "What do you mean?" Bingo.

Resignedly, I reply tiredly, "Just go, Ally. Go on your date and have fun." I smile weakly. "Don't worry about me."

Now she's confused. "Wha- weren't we just fighting seconds ago? Fighting about Elliot, no less, and now, all of a sudden, you've agreed to be going out with him? What's going on, Austin?" She moves to come closer, but I stop her with one hand.

"Don't," I whisper, so low I can barely hear it. "Don't," I repeat, louder this time. "Please just go, Ally. Tell Elliot I'd like to see him and apologize." And then I all but shove her out of the door, remorse flooding my chest the whole time.

_v is for Volatile_

I'm sitting in the practice room when a knock sounds on the door. "Come in," I say tiredly.

"Hey, man."

My head turns towards Elliot so fast, I think I might have gotten whiplash. "What?" I ask sharply.

He looks uncomfortable, standing there with his hands in his pockets and an uncertain look in his eyes. "Ally sent me up here, she said you wanted to talk...?" Oh, right. It's been barely an hour since Ally and I had our fight. And suddenly, all the overprotective, that's-my-best-friend-don't-touch-her-asshole feelings have come up.

Fuck you, emotions.

Standing up, I face Elliot stonily. He's got the perfect look of innocence and confusion combined on his face, and I can't bring myself to punch him because a) Ally will go I-am-woman-hear-me-ROAR on my ass, and b) I fight fair. "You're going out with Ally tonight," I say simply.

He nods, still unsure where this is going. "Yeah... Look, if you want me to call it off, I'll do it."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean it's pretty obvious that you like her... I asked Ally out because she's a great girl, but I'm not in love with her and I'd never take another guy's girl like that-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," I say, stopping him with a hand. "First off, Ally is _not_ my girl," _I wish_, "so you go out with her and you have fun. Second," and here my tone turns menacing, "if you hurt her in any which way or form, I'm not gonna hesitate to punch you." Hearing my threat, the air between us suddenly crackles with tension; I can almost feel the volatile energy. This is what happens when you put two alpha males in the same room together.

Surprisingly, Elliot stands his ground. "Okay," he nods. "I don't think it's fair that you think I'd hurt her without even getting to know me, but believe me, if I ever hurt Ally, I would punch _myself_ out."

I nod, then cross my arms. Damn it, he's is actually a good guy. _Dear People Up There, I would appreciate it if Elliot was a jerk, thanks. From, Austin._ "Well, I guess you should go now. Ally's pretty excited," I say gruffly. "It's her first date, so don't mess it up, okay?"

Elliot grins and punches my shoulder. "Will do, loverboy!"

"I'm not in love with her!"

"Can't hear you, sorry!"

_y is for whY_

The next day, Ally comes in looking upset. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask concernedly.

Ally eyes me carefully before blurting out, "Do you like me?"

The question is so abrupt and unexpected that I nearly fall off the piano bench. "Huh?" is all I can muster up as a form of speech.

"Do you like me?" she repeats, looking slightly depserate to hear my answer.

"Uh..." I trail off, stalling. "How did this come up?" I ask finally.

She knows that I changed the topic on purpose, but she also knows that she won't get any further with this interrogation if she doesn't answer my one question. "I was with Elliot last night, on our date, and halfway through, he left."

Instantly, hot, burning anger runs through my veins and I'm up on my feet before I know it. "I'm gonna punch that—"

"Hey!" Ally says sharply, and I turn to her. "I didn't finish yet," her tone is reprimanding and I resist the urge to boop her nose, because Ally looking reprimanding with her hands on her hips is too adorable.

God, just a second ago I was ready to kill Elliot, and now I'm contemplating how cute Ally is? This is what the girl does to me; I'm having mood swings because of her! "Well, keep going!" I urge, after a moment's silence. The quicker she finishes talking, the quicker I can go end Elliot's life. Figuratively.

"He left because he said he didn't want a date where he wasn't supposed to be. I asked him what he meant by that, and he said you were supposed to be there with me, not him. He said that you like me— he even said you loved me!— and he said he wasn't going to stand in the way of that. So Austin, let me repeat my question: Do you like me?" Her gaze is hard and unforgiving but I can see her hands trembling, and I know that whatever we say to each other next, it will change everything.

So, I breathe deeply and let it go, because I'm done denying whatever the heck it is that Ally makes me feel. "Do you know what it feels like to watch the one girl you've ever actually loved for real flirt with another guy? I'll tell you now that it feels absolutely shitty." I see her open her mouth, probably to say something like Language, Austin! but I keep going before she can interrupt. I just started and I certainly won't be stopping now. "I don't know when I started liking you. Maybe it was when you were dancing with me on some random afternoon when we wouldn't be bothered and you wouldn't be embarrassed, maybe it was when we were singing together, maybe it was when you made me pancakes— hell, maybe it was even when I was out on one of my dates and I realized the girl sitting next to me would never be you." I grip her shoulders tightly, looking hard at her. "I don't know, Ally. You're just you and I'm just me and I don't know what I'm saying right now, but I'm stupidly in love with the only girl that will never give me a chance because we're best friends."

Her eyes are wide and I think they're shining a bit; oh god, is she going to cry? I don't know how to deal with crying girls!

But the thing she does next, I can deal with _very_ well.

It's simple and sweet, the kiss she leaves on my lips. Pulling back, she looks shy and vulnerable, biting on her lip. My eyes zero in on the action, of course, and the next thing I know, she's on top of the piano and we're both engaged in an extensive, open-mouthed kissing session.

"What about Elliot?" I murmur against her lips, my fingers getting lost in her curls.

"He's my best friend from camp," sh replies breathlessly, her hands tugging on tufts of my hair when I kiss her again, hard. "I've made it a rule only to fall in love with best friends that steal my songs," she continues. "Besides, you just gave a speech on why you love me. It was short and lame, but I think a speech deserves a kiss." She smiles and then it's all lips and limbs tangled together in a beautiful mess.

"I thought you were the one who was short and lame." I can't help but make a jab at her, even when she pouts at me in that way that makes my chest warm. "I mean, I love you." I smile charmingly and pull her back, because joking and teasing is great, but I have to make up for all the time we've been in this practice room, talking and laughing and writing songs instead of kissing. Why didn't we do this instead? Why didn't we do it sooner?

But soon, my head is too fuzzy to think about things like that, because there is a heaven on earth and it's Ally.

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**A/N: Ta-da? I don't know, I'm not quite sure how I like this ending...**

**Anyways, check out some of my other stories and press that little review button! :)**

**From,**  
**Sabrina**


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